Press "Enter" to skip to content

Find and update missing ODBC connection

As part of a recent SQL Server migration, I had a task to update an ODBC connection on a legacy application server running Windows Server 2012 R2. Usually, the relevant connection can be found and re-configured in the System DSN (Data Source Name) list in the ODBC Data Source Administrator, e.g:
01_SystemDSNs

However for some reason in this case, the lists were empty in both the 64-bit & 32-bit Administrator windows.
02_MissingSystemDSNs

So instead I had to find the connection’s location in the registry & update the details there. Depending on whether the connection is 64-bit or 32-bit, there are two different locations for the ODBC connections.

I found the 64-bit location at Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\.
03_Registry_ODBC_INI

And, I found the 32-bit location at Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI\.
04_Registry_ODBC_INI_32bit

From these locations, it’s possible to update the connection’s details, e.g. Server or Database name.

I recommend backing up the registry (using File > Export) before making any changes so that they can be reverted if required.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *